People pay their respects as the hearse carrying the casket of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno passes through State College, Pa., Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012. Paterno died Sunday at the age of 85. (AP Photo/John Beale)
People pay their respects as the hearse carrying the casket of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno passes through State College, Pa., Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012. Paterno died Sunday at the age of 85. (AP Photo/John Beale)
Meghan James, 14, left, and her grandmother Joan Wanat, both from Huntington, N.Y., comfort each other after going through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Mourners arrive at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for memorial services for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alysha Ulrich, 10, left foreground, from Oley, Pa., waits in line to go through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. The second day of a three-day period of public mourning for Paterno will culminate with the funeral and burial for the Hall of Fame football coach who became the face of Penn State University. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Blaze Feury, right, a member of the Penn State rugby team, gives out hot chocolate to mourners in line to go through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. The second day of a three-day period of public mourning for Paterno will culminate with the funeral and burial for the Hall of Fame football coach who became the face of Penn State University. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? A simple two-word message flashed this week on the electronic signboard outside Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
"Thanks JoePa."
On Thursday, a capacity crowd of more than 12,000 is expected to pack the arena for one more tribute to Joe Paterno, the Hall of Fame football coach who died Sunday from lung cancer.
His death at age 85 came less than three months after his stunning ouster as head coach in the wake of child sex-abuse charges against a retired assistant. But this week, thousands of alumni, fans, students and former players in Happy Valley are remembering Paterno for his record-setting coaching career, his love for the school and his generosity.
"What's Joe's legacy? The answer, is his legacy is us," former NFL and Penn State receiver Jimmy Cefalo said Wednesday before Paterno's funeral. Cefalo is scheduled to be one of the speakers at the tribute called "A Memorial for Joe" at the arena across the street from Beaver Stadium ? the stadium Paterno helped turned into a college football landmark.
Paterno's son, former Nittany Lions quarterback coach Jay Paterno, also is expected to speak at the memorial, which will cap three days of public mourning for Paterno. Viewings were held Tuesday and Wednesday morning, before the funeral and burial service for Paterno on Wednesday afternoon at the campus interfaith center where family members attended church services.
Cefalo, who played for Penn State in the '70s, said it will be the most difficult speech of his life. But he offered a hint of what he might say.
"Generations of these young people from coal mines and steel towns who he gave a foundation to," Cefalo said. "It's not (the Division I record) 409 wins, it's not two national championships, and it's not five-time coach of the year (awards). It's us."
The memorial Thursday is expected to feature a speaker for each decade of Paterno's coaching career, according to Charles Pittman, a former player who said he will represent the 1960s.
Pittman said he was in Paterno's first class and was the coach's first All-America running back. Pittman's son later played for the Nittany Lions as well, making them the first father-son pair to play for Paterno, Pittman said. They wrote a book about their experiences called "Playing for Paterno."
Pittman said he spoke with Paterno two or three times a year. In 2002, the coach chided Pittman for moving to South Bend, Ind. ? home of rival Notre Dame ? to take a job as a newspaper executive.
"He called me a traitor," said Pittman, a senior vice president for publishing at Schurz Communications Inc., an Indiana-based company that owns television and radio stations and newspapers, and a member of the Board of Directors of The Associated Press.
Pittman attended Wednesday's funeral, which also drew other notable guests including former NFL players Franco Harris and Matt Millen; and former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. Nike founder Phil Knight and actor William Baldwin were there, too.
A procession wound through the Penn State campus and the surrounding State College community. Quiet mourners lined the route, watching with grief and reverence as the electric-blue hearse carrying Paterno's casket slowly drove by.
Some took pictures with their cellphones, or waved to his widow. Others craned their necks hoping for a better glimpse through the crowd sometimes four or more deep.
A family spokesman, Dan McGinn, said Paterno's grandchildren escorted the casket down the aisle during the opening procession, and again at the end of the service. Jay Paterno and his brother, Scott, were among the pallbearers.
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Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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